David Nykia - The Road to the Title

David Nykia is one of New Zealand’s best boxers.

He’s won two Commonwealth Games gold medals, an Olympic bronze, was the NZ flagbearer at the Rio Olympics and since turning professional has a record of nine fights, nine wins.

But he’s also one of the nicest guys in boxing.

So nice, that he agreed to come back and record an episode with us after we recorded our first episode with him in July 2022 but lost all of the audio before we could release it.

Luckily, David doesn’t remember most of that chat - so this was a fresh second take!

We talk about life out of the spotlight in country Queensland, he takes us inside training camps with Israel Adesanya and Tyson Fury, his frustrating Olympics experiences and his challenges with mental health, and fighting to put a stop to malaria in Africa.

Right now David is on the Road to the Title, and is headlining a massive fight night on September 14 at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre with the cruiserweight belt on the line.

We were stoked to grab some of his time when he was briefly back home promoting the event.

Best Laugh: David describing “dad strength”: the strength that only comes when a man reaches his 30s

Best Insight: David loves an analogy, but his concept of turning the tap on and off on his struggles with the blues has great depth

Biggest Surprise: The quiet life David lives away from the glitz and glamour of the boxing world in country Queensland in the small town of Gatton

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